The Happy Prince
by Oscar Wilde

The Happy Prince: Situational Irony 2 key examples

Situational Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Deceptive Appearances:

As is typical of Wilde’s style of writing, “The Happy Prince” is steeped in irony, with the story repeatedly flipping readers’ expectations. This irony is introduced immediately through the Happy Prince himself, who, despite his name and the townspeople's perception of him, is miserable. Although a mother scolds her son for crying by saying “the Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything,” when the Swallow meets the Happy Prince there are “tears […] running down his golden cheeks.”

Explanation and Analysis—Wealth vs. Poverty:

Wilde uses a foil in “The Happy Prince” to emphasize the opposing characteristics of the rich and poor. The seamstress, for example, serves as a foil for the Queen’s "maids-of-honour," for whom she is making a luxurious dress:

Her face is thin and worn, and she has coarse, red hands, all pricked by the needle, for she is a seamstress. She is embroidering passion-flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen’s maids-of-honour to wear at the next Court-ball. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill. […] His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying.

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